Airbnb Battles Hostile Ballot Measure In San Francisco

(AP) - Travelers worldwide may love using Airbnb to book vacation stays, but the company that revolutionized home-sharing faces a hostile ballot measure in the city where it was founded.

Proposition F on the Nov. 3 San Francisco ballot would limit short-term rentals to 75 days a year and require hosting companies such as Airbnb to yank listings that violate the limit.

Backers say the demand for vacation stays is sucking up scarce housing, adding to the city's unaffordability. Opponents say the measure hurts residents who rely on money from rentals to make ends meet.

Both sides say they are fighting for the soul of San Francisco, a diverse place that is now a national symbol of income inequality amid sky-high housing costs driven in part by a technology boom.